San Bernardino County detectives recovered multiple bones and said the remains have not been identified.
APPLE VALLEY, CA — A person walking a recently purchased property in Apple Valley found human remains Friday evening, prompting San Bernardino County sheriff’s detectives to recover multiple bones and open a death investigation, authorities said.
The discovery drew homicide detectives, coroner’s staff and crime scene specialists to a residential area in the Victor Valley, where investigators secured the property and began the slow work of determining who the person was and how long the remains had been there. Officials said the remains showed no obvious signs of trauma, but the person’s identity and cause of death remained unknown.
Deputies responded about 8:20 p.m. June 26 to the 19000 block of Crest Drive after a report of found human remains, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. The person who called authorities had recently purchased the property and was walking around the location when the remains were discovered. A deputy arrived, located the remains and secured the scene before the department’s Specialized Investigations Division, Homicide Detail, took over the case.
Detectives searched the area with the Coroner’s Division and Crime Scene Specialists and collected multiple bones, sheriff’s officials said. “The property had been recently purchased, and while walking around the location, the reporting party discovered human remains,” the department said in its written summary. Officials did not release the name of the reporting party, the condition of the property, whether the remains were above ground or buried, or how long the new owner had possessed the home before the discovery.
The case remained in its early stages Tuesday. Authorities listed the decedent as unknown and did not announce an age, sex or possible date of death. They also did not say whether investigators found clothing, personal items or other evidence near the bones. The preliminary finding of no obvious trauma does not rule out a crime, an accident, a medical death or another manner of death. That determination is expected to depend on forensic testing and any records that can be matched to the remains.
Apple Valley is a High Desert town in San Bernardino County, about 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Crest Drive sits in a community where homes and open desert land share the same wide landscape, making searches for remains more difficult than in denser city neighborhoods. In death investigations involving bones, detectives often rely on the coroner’s office, forensic specialists, dental records, DNA testing and missing persons reports to build an identity before they can determine what happened.
The Apple Valley case is the latest in a series of recent human remains discoveries handled by San Bernardino County investigators, though authorities have not linked the cases. In late May, deputies in Highland recovered an adult-sized humerus after a site surveyor reported skeletal remains near Greenspot Road and Alta Vista. In April, a hiker found what appeared to be an adult human skull in a remote desert area near Twentynine Palms. Those cases also required forensic review to determine identity and circumstances.
Sheriff’s officials said the Apple Valley remains will be examined as the investigation continues. No arrests had been announced, and no charges had been filed as of Tuesday. The department did not announce a news conference or a date for the next update. Investigators said additional details would depend on the results of the forensic examination and any information that helps identify the person whose remains were found.
The discovery left few public answers for neighbors and the new property owner. Deputies did not describe any continuing threat to the area, and officials released only a brief account of the response. The scene was handled as a death investigation, with the first responding deputy securing the location so detectives and coroner’s personnel could search for evidence without disturbing the remains.
As of Tuesday, the remains had not been identified, and the investigation was ongoing. The next major step is the forensic examination, which could help determine identity, cause of death and whether detectives pursue the case as suspicious.
Author note: Last updated June 30, 2026.